Marc Miller to propose further changes to immigration and asylum system

Photo: Justin Tang The Canadian Press Immigration Minister Marc Miller

David Baxter – The Canadian Press in Ottawa

Published at 7:10 p.m.

• Canada

Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced Monday that further reforms to Canada’s immigration and asylum systems will be proposed in the coming weeks.

This follows a significant reduction in the number of permanent residents admitted to Canada over the next two years and stricter rules around temporary work permits.

Statistics provided by Canadian officials show that the average wait time to process asylum and refugee claims is about 44 months.

Miller told the House of Commons immigration committee that the asylum and refugee system is not working as it should because of volume and inefficiency.

“I want to reform the system, it’s not working the way it should,” the minister said. “The increasing claims that we’re seeing now, inside the country, are not unexpected. They’re the ones that we’ve seen from people who have less and less hope of staying in Canada and who are being advised to make, in my opinion unfairly, asylum claims when they shouldn’t be able to.”

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Inside the country asylum claims are those that are made outside of regular ports of entry. People must have been in Canada for at least two weeks before making such a claim. According to government data, 635 of these requests were processed between January and September of this year.

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Earlier in his testimony, Mr. Miller noted that an increasing number of people on student visas have filed asylum claims.

This can be an emotionally charged topic, as protesters outside the committee room held signs reading: “Don’t deport us! Don’t be racist! Rights, not cuts! Status for all!” at the end of the minister’s testimony.

One of the protesters from the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change group shouted at the minister, “We are the people you are trying to deport from this country,” as Marc Miller left the committee room. The group of about 20 people was escorted out of the building by parliamentary protective services.

New Democratic Party (NDP) immigration critic Jenny Kwan addressed calls to reverse recent immigration changes that scapegoat migrants for issues like the housing crisis in her questioning.

Minister Miller responded that becoming a Canadian citizen is not a right.

“It’s not a right to become a permanent resident. It’s not a right to become a Canadian citizen, otherwise you’re diluting the value of that. That’s something I believe in very strongly,” he said. “That doesn’t mean you’re treating people unfairly, and those who have made a commitment in their own visa that they’re going to leave at the end of that period obviously have to respect that.”

Miller added that there are nuances to this issue, which is why the goal is to attract 40% of new permanent residents from those already in Canada. He also said the government is aiming for 8.5% of French-speaking permanent residents among overall admissions in 2025, rising to 10% by 2027.

There were nearly 250,000 asylum claims that needed to be processed at the end of September, and at that point, 48,000 asylum claims had been processed since the beginning of the year.